The outline had been of the blond youngster.
Tucker was so filthy it was a wonder Gage could recognize him. He might not have if it wasn’t for that grulla mustang. Coulter knew that horse. Everyone knew Tucker’s horse. A half-tamed mare with a coat such a shining gray it was nearly silver, with a black mane and tail. It was said she stayed with Tucker because she wanted to, and no one else could ride her except for maybe Sunrise. The mustang would abide her when Tucker went for one of his long hikes, but no one else. Gage knew about those long hikes, because he hired Tucker from time to time and would’ve liked to do it more. He knew just how hard it was to find the elusive mountain man.
Sunrise rode with the group.
Neville Bassett too, whom Gage had seen only a couple of times before. He was a friend of Aaron’s from back east. The dark-haired woman Gage had never seen before, who also was coated in something black, though she had washed her face and Tucker had not. The woman was riding far too close to Tucker. And Tucker couldn’t keep his eyes off her.
Kylie had yelled “Shannon.” So who was Shannon? The dark-haired woman had smiled and waved. She had to be Shannon, that or the blonde. But since Shannon and Tucker had been missing, it stood to reason the woman in a similar state of filth as Tucker was Shannon.
But wasn’t Shannon, the owner of this claim, supposed to be Kylie’s brother?
Coulter rode toward the group, planning to get some answers, even if he had to knock some heads together.
“What’s he doing here?” Bailey hissed at Shannon.
Shannon and Bailey both looked at Coulter. Saw him looking straight at them and looked away. Shannon suspected he noticed every move. He seemed like the type.
“Probably here to drive me off my homestead.” Shannon knew she should be more worried, but honestly she had so much to be worried about, fretting about Gage Coulter was barely on the list.
“Well, now that you’re married, Tucker owns this homestead. You understand that, right?”
Shannon pursed her lips. “I didn’t really know that until just now. I mean, I knew it, but I hadn’t thought about it. I’ve been busy thinking of other things.”
Now she had even more to worry about.
Far more important was hoping Tucker understood about her wanting to wait before he was given the rights of a husband. He’d said yes, but he’d had an unusual gleam in his eye that made her think of being held in his arms while they slept and being pulled close to be kissed.
Being held was wonderful and so rare in her life. In fact, she longed for the warmth of sleeping close to him tonight and every night. But she didn’t want him to misunderstand that and take it as a sign she would allow husbandly rights.
Though in fairness, her ma had died young, so she had no one to explain things to her. She honestly had no idea what husbandly rights were exactly. Though as a woman who was familiar with animals and nature, she admitted to having a fair idea.
Shaking that from her mind, she realized she was looking at Tucker, who was looking right back at her with that same unusual gleam. She hoped his leg wasn’t paining him overly.
And were there some clean clothes for the sooty man? Did he even own a change of clothes or was sewing him a new outfit her first duty as a wife? Because she didn’t know how to wash buckskin, and that was what his filthy clothes were made of.
Tearing her eyes away from his, she looked around her homestead and saw no sign of her sheep. A lot of people might not make it of high importance, but Shannon kept fretting about how well Kylie had tended her sheep. Had the wolves eaten them all? And if any were left, was her new husband going to start right in roasting them?
And, oh, dear Lord God in heaven, she had a husband.
Sometimes minutes would go by during which she completely forgot that fact. Then it would sneak up on her—what it really meant—like it had right now. And it’d just slap her in the face.
Yep, Gage Coulter stopping by to steal her land was way down on the list. She had no intention of letting him have the homestead, but she was just now realizing she no longer had any power over that. She hoped Tucker didn’t just sign it away.
But Tucker had said he intended to stay with her. He’d promised. So that sounded like a man who wanted the land she was on. On the other hand, she knew Tucker was friends with Coulter and had worked for him in the past. It was hard to predict what Tucker would do.
Even with Tucker’s solid support, Shannon was sure Coulter could make an almighty nuisance of himself, so she’d probably have plenty of chances to worry about him.
“I don’t want him to see me,” Bailey whispered.
Shannon had forgotten what Bailey was talking about. “Who?”
“Coulter.” Bailey sounded disgusted, like her problems were the only ones in the world.
Shannon almost snorted.
“You know I don’t want anyone to figure out I’m a woman.”
Shannon opened her mouth to remind her stubborn big sister that all those men at the wedding already knew—had figured it out with one glance. Tucker knew. Sunrise of course knew. Aaron knew. Nev knew.
Honestly, wasn’t Coulter about the last person in the area who didn’t know? She didn’t tell Bailey that, because Bailey reined her horse around and rode for home.
Seconds later, Kylie reached Shannon, crying and laughing. Shannon forgot her worries, hopped off her horse and, when Kylie would have hugged her, caught her little sister by both shoulders.
“You are going to be smeared with black soot if you hug me.” Shannon smiled. “But I’m fine. We survived.”
“I’ll wash later.” Kylie knocked Shannon’s hands aside and hugged her fiercely. “I’m so glad you’re all right.”
Aaron came up beside Kylie. “Glad you made it home, little sister. We were mighty afraid for you when we saw where you’d fallen and heard the reputation of that stretch of water.”
Coulter rode up seconds later. “What happened, Tucker?”
Tucker and Sunrise told the tale. Tucker embellished it—a nicer word than lying.
When they reached the part where she was Kylie’s sister and she’d married Tucker, Coulter gave her a sharp look. “Sister? I thought Kylie had two brothers. In fact, I know I was told she had a brother named Shannon.”
Shannon didn’t bother trying to bluff. She figured Coulter for a smart man. “I’ve been living as a man here, wearing britches. With the name Shannon I could get away with it. I liked the independence of being thought a man. But I’m Kylie’s sister. Tucker’s known for a while.”
Five days was a while.
Before any talk could turn to Kylie’s and Shannon’s other “brother,” she went on. “We need to get Tucker cleaned up and in bed. He’s been hopping along and nursing a broken leg.” Her eyes shifted from Aaron to Coulter to Nev. Aaron was four inches taller than Gage. Gage was just over six feet and closer in size to Tucker, but Gage was a long way from home and there was no chance he’d have spare clothes. Nev lived in a small cabin next to Kylie and Aaron’s place, with the same long ride to fetch clothes. But Aaron had been staying here at least part of the time.
“Aaron, have you got a shirt Tucker could wear? He needs to take a bath and get to bed.”
“Now, Shannon, I don’t usually take a bath, exceptin’ maybe in the spring.”
She laughed at his teasing. “Tucker, you’re covered with coal dust. You’ve got to clean up before you can go in the house.”
He studied his hands and the front of his leather jerkin and pants, and nodded.
“I will clean your clothes if I can.” Sunrise sounded doubtful.
“I’ve got a nightshirt in the house that’ll work, though it’ll hang to the ground on you. I’ll help you wash up in the stream. Coulter, you want to lend a hand here so we don’t harm his leg?”
Coulter looked annoyed, but he didn’t ride off, which was a dirty shame.
“Aaron, do they sell plaster in town?” Nev asked.
Aaron thought
a minute, trying to picture the contents of the very small general store in Aspen Ridge. “Yep, they do.”
“I’ll ride in and buy some. I’ve worked with it before. Shannon, you did a good splint, but it’ll heal better if we put a cast on.” Nev reined his horse away and galloped off. The ride in and back would take close to two hours, and the afternoon was half gone already.
Sunrise said, “Give me the horses. All but Tucker’s. I will see they are fed and turned into the corral.”
“Mine’s fine by the hitchin’ post, Sunrise,” Coulter said.
Sunrise nodded and led the rest of their mounts off.
“Kylie, let’s leave the men to it. We can check my sheep. When they’re done, you can help me wash. We’ll go upstream while they go down.”
Tucker guided his mare toward the stream, and everyone but Shannon and Kylie went with him. After a few paces, Aaron turned off and went into the house.
Walking side by side, Kylie said, “The sheep are in the barn, Shannon. It won’t take long to check on them.”
Frowning, Shannon looked at the barn, then at Kylie. “Haven’t you let them out?”
“No, Aaron and I have been bringing in hay and shoveling out stalls instead of turning them into the pasture. We didn’t want any harm to come to them, and Aaron had to work during the day. A new land agent came to take over for him, and he’s had to show him around. We’ve decided we want to head back east before winter settles in. And winter comes early out here, so he’s trying to get the office in order. Since we couldn’t watch over the sheep, we were afraid a wolf might get them. I knew you’d be upset if something happened to them. And . . . and . . .” Kylie stopped and looked at Shannon, her eyes wide. They filled with tears.
“And what, Kylie?” It was all Shannon could do not to throw her arms around Kylie again, one more hug. But Kylie’s pretty dress was already smeared with soot, and they weren’t huggers. Not much at all.
“And I thought if you were dead, it was all I could do for you, Shannon.” The tears spilled over. “It was the thing that would matter to you—that I cared for your sheep. I know how much you love them.”
“Thank you.” Shannon couldn’t make herself care about messing up her little sister. She pulled her close. “I love you, Kylie.” They hugged and cried. Shannon realized how hard it had been to be brave in that tunnel. With Tucker’s leg broken, the responsibility of getting him out of there, keeping that little cup of fire glowing, finding the courage to keep going when the food and water were running low.
She’d kept her spirits up for Tucker, or maybe he’d been brave enough for both of them. But right now it all hit her, and she cried until the weight of it all lifted from her shoulders.
When it was over she felt washed clean inside, and she smiled again. Now she only needed to be washed clean on the outside.
“Thanks for taking such good care of them.” Shannon heard the vigorous bleating. The sheep weren’t happy in the barn, yet they sounded alive and well.
Kylie had cared for her sheep.
Hooking her arm, Kylie smiled as if Shannon was the first glimpse of the sun shining after a long, cold winter. “Now, big sister, tell me again how you went for a walk alone in the mountains five days ago and came back married, and don’t worry one bit about going into too much detail.”
12
Tucker had heard baths were bad for you. He couldn’t remember exactly where or who he’d heard it from, but it had the ring of truth. And for that reason he’d always avoided them.
He made exceptions, of course. His spring bath.
Winter was hard on the way a man smelled. And he bathed after butchering an elk and oftentimes even a deer. Messy business.
He had a time of it sleeping when he was sweaty after a long, hot day, so he’d go for a swim in a mountain lake a lot of summer nights. Not a bath, as no soap was involved, and Tucker didn’t mind cooling off.
Still, he didn’t consider himself a dirty person. And being coated in oily coal soot counted as being dirty. So he went along without a fuss and even planned to use soap, because he knew the soot wasn’t coming off without a fight. He’d have even looked forward to it if his blasted leg hadn’t hurt so much. It was more than the leg. He hurt all over. Every muscle and bone, every inch of his body.
Yep, he was feeling mighty puny. In fact, if Shannon hadn’t given him that horrified look when he’d headed for her house and bed, he’d have skipped this bath, no matter that he was blacker than a walking chunk of stinking coal.
He’d never admit it to a living soul, but it was taking about all he had to stay upright. Tucker wasn’t about to complain, but if he were alone, he’d’ve curled up and gone to sleep right where he was. Instead he started shucking his clothes, and of course that always took a while.
He dropped the knife out of his right sleeve, then his left.
When they’d abandoned the boot because of splinting his leg, he’d tucked the knife he kept there into his waistband. That went next.
Then he got the one from his other boot.
He tossed the whip he always carried on the pile.
Then his powder horn, and the big ugly cutlass he liked everyone to see, the two of them he wore crisscrossed on his chest. They hit the ground together.
He had a hideout blade a little wider than a needle in a reinforced seam in his pant leg. He landed that on top of the others.
The lack of his pistol as he stripped off his holster was like an itch he couldn’t scratch. His rifle was missing too. He hated the small pile of weapons.
“I feel naked.”
“Your clothes are wrecked, Tucker,” Aaron said dryly. “And I don’t see anything for you to change into. You’re gonna be naked.”
“You need new clothes, that’s for sure.” Coulter looked at Tucker, wearing his coal-blackened outfit, shaking his head at the sight.
Tucker hadn’t thought of clothes. They didn’t seem as important as his guns, but he reckoned he had to do something. Ma could clean them up probably. If not, how was he going to get an outfit? He only knew one way. He needed to go hunting. Bring down a buck. Skin it and tan the hide, stitch together some pants and a shirt. By the time he did all that, he’d need another bath!
And he had to do all that work with no gun and a broken leg. Which brought him right back to where he’d started. “I meant I feel naked without my guns. I need to go shopping for a rifle. It’s a mighty dangerous world.” Tucker pulled the little leather pouch he kept tied inside his waist. Heavy with gold coins.
He tossed it to Aaron. “That’s my winter’s earnings for fur. I’m glad it survived my dunking. You’re riding into town all the time. Can you get me a rifle? I saw a Winchester .66 in the general store in Aspen Ridge and had a hankering for it.” He didn’t go to town much, but folks had attacked Masterson’s wife. That trouble had taken Tucker to town, and he’d spent some time in the meager general store. He’d noticed the few guns they had for sale. One had been a beauty, swapped with a homesteader who needed food more than a shiny gun.
“A Yellowboy.” Coulter’s cold eyes warmed a bit. “I wanted to buy it too, but my Henry rifle works just fine. I had no excuse to buy another gun.”
Tucker smiled. “Well, the Slaughter River gave me one. Getting a wife out of this, and a Yellowboy. Falling into that river would be almost all good if it wasn’t for my leg and having to take a bath.”
Tucker was done stacking weapons and started on clothes. Aaron helped the least amount possible, which Tucker appreciated. No man wanted someone giving him a bath.
Still, he needed a hand for part of it. Aaron unstrapped the splint and assisted him with shedding the blackened pants. Tucker tugged to take off his leather jerkin, and stopped. It was stuck to his belly. The pain when he pulled harder almost knocked him over. All his aches he’d been ignoring suddenly centered right on his stomach. His head spun, and his stomach swooped.
“What’s the matter with my shirt?”
Aaron came clo
se. “It’s torn up. What happened?”
“Everything happened.” Tucker looked down at the blackened leather. “We were smashed up against so many rocks, I reckon the shirt and my stomach got cut up somehow. I think I must’ve bled, and the blood dried the shirt to my body.”
“And you didn’t notice?” Coulter might as well just call him stupid.
“I was unconscious. Shannon pulled me out. She said I was bleeding. My head, though, that’s where she thought the bleeding was coming from. We washed down that river for hours.” And if Coulter called Shannon stupid, Tucker might just shut his mouth permanently—if he had the gumption to make a fist.
Coulter didn’t say it.
“Get in the water.” Aaron spoke before either Tucker or Coulter could make things worse. “Let the shirt soak loose.”
Tucker decided he liked that idea better than tearing it off his already battered body. “After that first day, we were in almost pitch-dark, with a little light from the coal fire and our clothes getting coated in coal dust and oily smoke. I didn’t think much about my belly hurting, not with everything else that hurt. But now that I’m thinking about it, it’s mighty tender.”
Aaron helped him into the stream, and the cool water felt good. Tucker wondered for the first time if he might have a fever. He found a flat rock underwater and sat on it, which brought the water up to his waist. He wasn’t sure if he could stand, one-footed, long enough to clean himself properly.
He was mighty filthy, so he kept busy scrubbing while the water soaked his shirt. He tugged once on the shirt when he thought it soaked enough to let loose, and the pain that hit him was white hot. His vision darkened until he thought he might pass out. Grabbing the rock he was sitting on, he waited for his head to clear, then left his shirt alone again to soap his hair and neck, letting the current wash at that tender spot.
Now and Forever Page 9